


When a Void is Left

by PhantomDreamshade



Series: Old Stories [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Not Happy, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-15 14:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13615665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomDreamshade/pseuds/PhantomDreamshade
Summary: Gaster is a brilliant scientist - not all the rules apply to him. He can't fail.When he does, Sans spends his life trying to fix the mistake. It doesn't work.When Sans gives up, Papyrus doesn't know what's wrong or how to help. That doesn't stop him from trying.





	1. Hubris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster makes a mistake.

“THIS NEW DATA IS PROMISING,” Gaster said, looking over a list of readings on a computer screen. The desk it sat on was a mess - covered in stacks of papers, empty bags of popato chisps, and bottles of ketchup. “BY THESE CALCULATIONS, THE CORE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE MORE THAN ENOUGH POWER FOR THE MACHINE.”

“yup. turns out the geothermal activity’s stronger than we initially thought,” Sans said, pulling up more files to show Gaster. “the fire monsters that settled in Hotland are actually enhancing it with their magic inadvertently. pretty awesome, right?”

“I WOULD USE MORE PROFESSIONAL TERMINOLOGY, BUT YES. IT IS ‘AWESOME.’” Gaster cracked a smile to match Sans’ goofy grin. “MISS ALPHYS,” he called, and the lizard monster came scampering over.

“Y-Yes, D-Doctor Gaster?”

“DID THE INSPECTION GO WELL? ARE ALL PARTS FUNCTIONAL?”

“Y-Yes, I b-believe so. Th-The, um, lubricants and c-coolants have yet t-to be installed, b-but the machinery s-seems to b-be in ideal shape.”

“EXCELLENT WORK, MISS ALPHYS. PLEASE CONFIRM WITH MISTER RHASIA THAT HIS NEW COOLANT IS MEETING THE DESIRED STANDARDS, AND HAVE IT PUMPED INTO THE MACHINE ALONG WITH THE LUBRICANTS.”

“U-Um, D-Doctor Gaster, Rhasia’s c-coolant decomposes within a f-few hours. W-We should r-really wait until we’re r-ready to t-test the device before using it.” Alphys looked at the floor, uncomfortable with telling Gaster he had made a mistake.

He didn’t seem to notice. “I AM AWARE. WE WILL BE TESTING THE DEVICE AS SOON AS IT IS PRIMED.”

“Wh… n-no,” Alphys stuttered. Then she turned bright red, realizing that she had just said ‘no’ to Doctor Gaster.

Sans covered for her. “i’m with al on this one, doc. these are just preliminary results - we still need to run theoretical scenarios, put in safety measures--”

Gaster waved his hand dismissively before placing a hand on both Sans’ and Alphys’ shoulders. “THIS IS NO TIME FOR BEING CONSERVATIVE. ALPHYS, I TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT ON THE ENGINEERING STANDPOINT OF THE MACHINE, AND I AM SURE YOU WERE VERY THOROUGH IN YOUR CALCULATIONS, SANS. AM I WRONG?”

“no, but…”

“THINK OF IT. WHILE EVERYONE ON THIS TEAM DESERVES SOME CREDIT, IT IS US THREE THAT HAVE REALLY MADE THIS BREAKTHROUGH POSSIBLE. TWO THEORETICAL PHYSICISTS AND THE ENGINEER THAT BROUGHT THE THEORIES TO LIFE - WE WILL BE LEGENDARY. AND I AM SURE KING ASGORE WILL BE VERY IMPRESSED WITH YOUR WORK, MISS ALPHYS,” Gaster added with a wink. Alphys blushed harder.

“IT WILL BE A SHORT TEST. WE WILL NOT ENTER THE PORTAL FOR SOME TIME YET.” He gave Alphys a pat on the back and walked away.

Alphys turned towards the chemistry lab, and Sans grabbed her shoulder. “al, i still don’t think this is a good idea. don’t do this.”

Alphys brushed his hand away and fidgeted with her lab coat. “D-Doctor Gaster knows what h-he’s doing. I-I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Her face betrayed her doubts, but she continued on her way.

Sans turned back to his computer and began re-checking his calculations.

* * *

 

“THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES,” Gaster said as the machine began to buzz with electricity. “ALL OF TIME AND SPACE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO US. WE COULD SIMPLY CREATE A PORTAL OUT OF THE UNDERGROUND. WE COULD RETURN TO THE PAST AND PREVENT THE WAR FROM OCCURRING IN THE FIRST PLACE. I WILL BE A HERO; A GOD.” He placed his hands on the device’s polished metal surface reverently.

Sans gave him a concerned glance. “mind tonin’ down the creepy megalomania down a notch or two, g?” The lights dimmed as the time machine began to consume more and more electricity.

Gaster blinked back to reality. “MY APOLOGIES. I AM… EXCITED.”

“we all are, g. and don’t get me wrong, this is totally your brainchild. just don’t go getting a swollen head, yeah?”

“MY HEAD CANNOT SWELL, SANS. IT IS MADE ENTIRELY OF BONE.” Gaster smirked a little as the backup power took effect and the lights stopped flickering.

“i just can’t get anything through that thick skull of yours, huh?”

Gaster rolled his eyes playfully. “I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD HOW A MAN AS BRILLIANT AS YOURSELF COULD BE ENTERTAINED BY THE LOWEST FORM OF COMEDY.”

“oh really? i heard sarcasm was the lowest form of comedy.”

“THEN YOU HAVE A MONOPOLY ON TERRIBLE HUMOR,” Gaster chuckled before turning to Alphys. “IS EVERYTHING RUNNING SMOOTHLY?”

“I-I think so. The g-graviton confinement is still within a-acceptable levels, and the, u-um, tachyon g-generator is operating as d-designed,” she stuttered. She still looked very uncomfortable.

“IS SOMETHING WRONG, MISS ALPHYS?”

“N-No, I-I just… I-I’m concerned about the dimensional stabilizers. If the e-event gives off too much feedback, then there could be a b-brane collapse and--”

“WE HAVE ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR THE FEEDBACK IN OUR CALCULATIONS,” Gaster assured her. “THE FAILSAFES YOU’VE PUT IN PLACE SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO COMPENSATE. JUST CONTINUE MONITORING THE DEVICE AND TELL ME IMMEDIATELY OF ANY PROBLEMS.”

“Y-Yes, Doctor.”

The door to the laboratory slid open as an armless child dashed into the lab. “Uncle! Mama told me about the time machine! Can I watch? Pretty, pretty, please?”

A short, orange monster walked over to the child, nervously looking at Gaster. “C’mon, sweetheart, you’re not supposed to be here right now! How many times have I told you about bothering me while I’m working?”

Gaster chuckled and beckoned the pair over. “DO NOT BE SO UPTIGHT, MISTER HANSEY! YOUR NIECE IS WELCOME TO WATCH. WE ARE ABOUT TO MAKE HISTORY, AFTER ALL.”

The child’s eyes practically lit up with excitement as she hopped into a nearby chair. The empty space within the machine began to glow with an intense blue light as a ring of energy formed inside. The air in the room began to swirl as gravity fluxed around the anomaly.

“ARE THE COOLANTS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY IN THE ALTERED GRAVITATIONAL FIELD, MISTER RHASIA?” Gaster asked.

“Yes, sir!” the tall, lanky monster answered. He beamed with pride. “It’s working even better than I thought it would!”

“EXCELLENT. NOW, PLEASE INCREASE THE TEMPORAL MAGNIFICATION BY--”

“W-Wait! Shut it down!” Alphys shouted from behind the machine.

“WHAT’S WRONG?” Gaster looked at the ring of energy, which was rapidly increasing in size.

“The feedback’s increasing exponentially, the stabilizers don’t have the capacity to handle--”

Alphys screamed as the machine sparked and sent her flying into the wall. Sans immediately teleported to her side and brought her to the very back of the room as something exploded and the machine began billowing out smoke.

“IS SHE ALRIGHT?” Gaster asked, rushing over.

Sans didn’t have the chance to respond as the gravity in the room suddenly went haywire, sending him and Alphys careening into the wall. Sans’ eyes went dark as the back of his skull impacted with a sickening smack, leaving red smears on the wall as he slid to the ground.

“SANS!” Gaster attempted to pick up his pace, but found himself floundering uselessly in the air as the gravity nearest the anomaly disappeared entirely. Nothing he did seemed to have an effect as the the anomaly evolved into a vortex, opening up a black void in the room. One by one, Gaster’s team of scientists disappeared into the darkness along with the child as he desperately fought for control. It was no use - he too was absorbed by the void.

As the light faded from his reality, Gaster saw Sans and Alphys begin to drift towards the vortex as well. His mind began to swim with strange visions and voices, but one lucid thought still made its way to the front of his mind.

Drawing on all the blue magic he had at his disposal, Gaster counteracted the gravity of the anomaly from within. It fizzled out into nothing as it destabilized, and Gaster felt himself slipping away.


	2. Exhaustion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Alphys attempt to pick up the pieces after the lab accident.

Sans woke up slowly - _stars_ , his skull ached. His eyesockets blinked open; there was grey, and red. Eventually he figured out that the grey was just the sterile palate of the unlit laboratory; the red was on the floor.

It took a while for Sans to realize that it was blood; his head was laying in a puddle of it. That was probably bad. He tried to remember what happened, but his foggy mind wasn’t offering any explanation. If he was in the lab, he might have had a lab accident. That didn’t make sense though; someone would have taken him to the hospital by now. Like Alphys, or… Alphys.

He tried to sit up, but the wave of vertigo that assaulted him was enough to convince him he was better off in the blood-puddle. He felt the back of his skull - it was definitely cracked. Hopefully it wasn’t that bad, but he didn’t have the wherewithal to tell at this point. Instead, he decided to look around the room for anything that could help him figure out what was going on.

There was a charred hunk of metal in one part of the room; probably an explosion, then. On the other side was a lump of white and yellow.

“al? oh, god.” Sans shakily rose to his knees and crawled over to Alphys, fighting back the nausea. He shook her gently. “c’mon alphys, wake up.”

The lizard monster mumbled something under her breath as she returned to consciousness. “Sans?” Then, she suddenly gasped as she stumbled to her feet and looked around frantically, eyes stopping on the ruined machine. “No, no no nonono…” she clutched the sides of her head in panic and turned back to Sans. “Where are - oh my God, you’re hurt!” She immediately skittered behind him to look at his skull. “W-We need to get you to a hospital,” she said.

Sans nodded, and Alphys moved to pick him up bridal-style. He wasn’t very heavy, luckily, but Alphys was shorter than him and it was hard to keep him from falling out of her arms.

“C-Can you, u-um… c-could you… y-you put y-your a-arms around me?” she asked, blushing. Sans smirked a little and wrapped his arms around her neck loosely.

“you’re a regular knight in shining armor, al,” he chuckled. Alphys turned an even brighter shade of red.

“Sh-Shut up,” Alphys said, beginning to walk out of the laboratory.

* * *

Returning to consciousness was an odd sensation for Gaster. He didn’t feel like he’d been asleep, but he knew he hadn’t been awake for a while. He felt extremely confused, and… weightless. Maybe he was dreaming.

He looked around; if this was a dream, it was very vivid. He was in his laboratory, but the edges of things seemed to wobble as if they were underwater. The colors were all muted, and so was the sound - and there was no gravity. In fact, he found himself moving around just by willing himself to do so.

He struggled to remember what happened to him. He had just been named Royal Scientist - no. He’d just opened the Core to power the Underground… or had he just apprenticed Sans? Not Sans, Alphys. Or was it Sans? He focused on the room around him, hoping it would give him some clue.

There were dull red smears on the wall, and a drying puddle of the same color on the floor. Sans - they came from Sans, he knew. Sans was hurt - possibly Alphys, as well - and they needed his help.

Except, they weren’t there. They were gone, and Gaster was alone. The machine, he remembered - the machine had malfunctioned. _His_ machine had malfunctioned. He needed to find the rest of his team.

Just as the thought entered his mind, the world seemed to… stutter. Suddenly, Sans and Alphys were back in the room, lying on the floor. The puddle of blood he had seen earlier began to spread out from Sans’ head, and Gaster rushed over.

“SANS,” Gaster said. He tried to shake his shoulder, but found that his hands phased right through the other skeleton. Just as Gaster began to panic, the world stuttered again, and Sans was gone - Alphys was there instead.

“D-Doctor $%@&#!,” she said, smiling nervously. His name was inaudible, like it had been drowned out with static. “Y-Your w-work is incredible. Th-Thank you s-so much for the opportunity to see it.”

Gaster heard his own voice echo in the room from some blurred-out figure to his left. “THE PLEASURE IS MINE, MISS ALPHYS. HOWEVER, THIS VISIT WAS NOT MERELY TO SHOW YOU MY WORK - I WOULD LIKE YOU TO JOIN IN IT.”

“Wh-What?”

“YOU LEFT YOUR NOTEBOOK BEHIND IN MY OFFICE TWO WEEKS AGO. I MUST SAY THAT YOUR THEORIES ON FUNCTIONAL TACHYON GENERATORS ARE QUITE IMPRESSIVE.”

“Y-You r-read… I-I d-don’t--”

“MISS ALPHYS, I REALIZE YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE MUCH EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD YET, BUT I AM COMPOSING A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS FOR A NEW PROJECT AND I LACK A SUITABLE ENGINEER. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO FILL THAT VOID.”

“Y-You can’t be serious!” Alphys stuttered, turning red.

“I AM. IN FACT, I AM CONSIDERING OFFERING YOU AN APPRENTICESHIP - MY CURRENT APPRENTICE, SANS, HAS LEARNED ALL HE NEEDS TO KNOW FROM ME AND I AM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO TUTOR.”

Alphys choked on her words for a few seconds. “W-With a-all due respect, D-Doctor $%@&#!, there m-must be plenty of people more qualified than m-me.”

“YOUR ASSUMPTION IS INCORRECT. MAKE NO MISTAKE, I AM A DEMANDING MAN - AND I WOULD NOT OFFER IF I DID NOT BELIEVE YOU TO POSSESS AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF NATURAL TALENT. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY, MISS ALPHYS - I ASK YOU TO AT LEAST CONSIDER IT.”

Alphys  couldn’t find any more words to say. “THINK ABOUT IT AND E-MAIL ME YOUR DECISION BY THE END OF THE WEEK. NOW IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE I MUST ATTEND TO.”

Then, the world stuttered again and he was on the ground floor of the lab. It was different - none of his things were there. Instead, his desk was covered in an array of miscellaneous garbage that he didn’t recognise. Alphys stood in front of the large monitor, transfixed by something on the screen.

“...if anything went wrong, she would… evacuate everyone,” the screen said. It was a woman’s voice. Gaster walked over to her.

“MISS ALPHYS, WHAT IS GOING ON?” He hoped against all odds that she would answer, but she didn’t even seem to notice he was there. It was like he was invisible.

The woman on the screen continued to speak, and Gaster looked at her for the first time. He didn’t recognize her - she was some sort of fish-monster, dressed in a Royal Guard’s armor. There was someone else there - a human, dressed in a tutu and ballet slippers. Bloody ballet slippers. The woman seemed to be melting.

“...this world… will live on…!” With one final cry, she dissolved into pale sludge and dust, trickling through the spaces between the boards of the bridge she stood on. There was a delay before Alphys screamed, pounding on the screen with her fists and sliding to the floor, sobbing. Gaster bent down, wishing he could comfort her in some way, but there was nothing he could do.

After a long moment, still crying, Alphys reached up and pressed a button on the monitor - it was the intercom. She took a deep breath.

“M-Monsters of Hotland,” she said, forcing her voice to be as steady as possible. “This is the Royal Scientist, Doctor Alphys. As m-many of you know, a human has been spotted in Waterfall. Un… C-Captain Undyne is dead.” She paused for a moment, as if she still did not believe the words to be true. “If you are in the i-immediate vicinity of the Hotland lab, please go there immediately. Everyone else in Hotland needs to head for the Core, _now_. I’ll r-rearrange the Core to keep you in inaccessible areas for the time being. This is not a d-drill.”

Alphys picked herself up off of the floor and walked towards the elevator.

The world stuttered again.

* * *

“i’ll be okay, pap. really,” Sans assured his brother as the taller skeleton tucked him into his freshly-made bed. “doc says i’m gonna be fine. i just need ta take it easy for a while.”

Papyrus still looked worried. “IF YOU SAY SO, BROTHER. BUT YOU STILL HAVEN’T TOLD ME HOW THIS HAPPENED!”

Sans reached up and felt the back of his skull - it was wrapped up tightly with gauze. “i don’t really remember what happened, papyrus. i’m pretty sure it was some sort of accident at the lab, but i can’t really tell you more than that."

“LAB? WHAT LAB?”

Sans frowned (as much as a skeleton could actually frown) and gave Papyrus a quizzical look. “you know, where i work? i’m the doctor’s apprentice there. well, former apprentice - doctor… uh…” Sans had to think for a moment. “doctor gaster.”

“OH, RIGHT. HOW DID I FORGET THAT YOU WERE A SCIENTIST?” Papyrus scratched the top of his skull. “I DON’T REMEMBER THIS ‘DOCTOR GASTER’ YOU SPEAK OF, THOUGH. HAVE I MET HIM?”

“y... no? i don’t really know,” Sans admitted.

“OH, LISTEN TO ME RAMBLE ON. YOU NEED REST - I’LL GO NOW. LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY IF YOU NEED ANYTHING! I MEAN IT!”

“sure thing, pap,” Sans chuckled, closing his eyes. Stars, he was tired.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to fall asleep. He just drifted in the limbo between dreams and wakefulness before sighing in frustration and sitting up in the bed. What a great time to be an insomniac.

Sans used his magic to bring his laptop over to himself and pulled up the files on his most recent experiment - the Temporal-Dimensional Portal. His memories finally began to return in bits and pieces, and he dialed Alphys’ number on his phone.

“heya, al.”

“O-Oh, S-Sans. A-Are you okay?”

“yeah, i’m laying down at home. did you figure anything out about the lab? or, y’know, what they hell happened to the rest of the team?”

“I-I… I think I-I might know. B-But, um, this i-isn’t the kind of n-news to share over the phone and I w-want to run some tests first s-so that I’m sure,” Alphys stuttered.

“just let me know when, kay? i’ll check the data from my end and see if i can find anything.”

* * *

It had been about two weeks, and Sans couldn’t have been in a worse mood as he rode the elevator down into the lab. His skull certainly wasn’t all the way healed, but his magic had repaired it enough that Papyrus finally let him leave the house. He’d been up day and night combing through the data from the machine test - and to complicate matters, a large portion of that data had been severely corrupted. Maybe there was a power surge that fried his computer during the explosion? He was still missing pieces.

Alphys’ phone calls hadn’t helped either. She sounded more and more distraught each time, and if what she’d found out matched his data, then… well. This wasn’t going to be a good day.

The lizard monster was sitting in the corner of the room when he arrived. She immediately stood up and wiped her eyes under her glasses.

“S-Sans! U-Um… hi,” she said. It was obvious she’d been crying.

“that bad?” Sans asked. He had a feeling he already knew what she was going to say.

“Th-The, uh… the d-dimensional stabilizers failed. There w-was a… a brane collapse. The crew, they… they’re a-all gone, Sans. They were d-dispersed by the event correction.” Alphys started sobbing. “I-It’s a-all my fault, the stabilizers w-were all my idea, they--”

“it’s not your fault, al,”

“H-How is it not my fault?! It w-was the _stabilizers_ , Sans.”

“the stabilizers broke down ‘cause we gave you the wrong data. gaster gave me the numbers for the vibrational feedback and i didn’t bother to double check ‘em - just my own work. i looked through them this time, and they were all off. we should have told you to expect almost four times the feedback, alphys - the mistake was on our end. the stabilizers did exactly what we told you they needed to do.”

Alphys wiped her eyes again. “I-It doesn’t even m-matter anymore. The dispersal is already underway; e-eventually, there w-won’t be any evidence they existed.”

“not if we reverse it, al. we just need to get the machine up and running for real and then go back in time to stop the initial test.”

Alphys looked at him sadly. “That’ll never w-work, Sans. I can’t increase the s-stabilizers capacity to the l-levels you’re asking for. I-I… I can’t be a part of this. N-Never again. We should never have tried t-to mess with time, Sans. I… I-I’m sorry. I have to go.”

Sans tried to stop her, but she left the lab anyway. He stood there for several minutes, trying to decide what to do; then, wordlessly, he began to take the machine apart piece by piece and took the parts to his basement lab.


	3. The Unsolvable Puzzle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus tries to find out what is bothering Sans. As usual, Sans dodges the question.

Gaster watched Sans snore on the floor of his basement lab, empty ketchup bottles littering the floor and wrench in hand. He had been working on the machine for almost thirty-seven straight hours, and the lack of sleep had finally caught up with him.

In his current state, Gaster required neither rest nor food, so he watched over the younger skeleton. Well, more ‘watched’ than ‘watched over.’ It wasn’t as if he could affect the real world in any way anymore.

He had learned to control his position in time and space, more or less. He could tell the difference between the past, present, and the possibilities of the future, even if they still blurred together sometimes. He had found the rest of his team, at one point or another, scattered throughout the cosmos. They weren’t faring as well as him - they couldn’t hold on to one place or one time for very long. He caught glimpses of them and their scattered minds from time to time, but there wasn’t anything he could do to help them, either.

He was simply trapped in his own eternal limbo, completely impotent. He remained in the present, for the most part. The future was terrifying. For every beautiful future, there was one of death and horror, and he no longer had a say on which path his world would follow.

Nor did he have a say in the lives of those he cared about. Alphys had begun to move on with her life, thank the stars - though her future seemed more likely to be filled with hardship than not. He should have been there to guide her. Instead, he was trapped in the void outside of space in time.

He was consumed by guilt. He watched himself make the damning calculations hundreds of times - it was such a tiny, tiny mistake. A tiny mistake that compounded on itself to ruin more than a dozen lives. But out of all the misery he had caused, he felt most responsible for Sans.

Sans was drowning. He wasted hours, days, weeks on that infernal device, trying to fix it. Gaster had calculated the odds of Sans succeeding in extracting him from the void, and they were laughably slim. The worst part was that Sans blamed himself - if Gaster could say or do one final thing, it would be to tell Sans that the fault was his own and that he needed to move on.

The mistake should never have reached Sans in the first place. Gaster should have checked his work, but he didn’t, because Gaster didn’t make mistakes. Yet here he was, forcing himself to watch someone he cared about suffer as his own penance.

* * *

 

Sans yawned and stretched. Ugh, his spine ached. Apparently linoleum wasn’t a comfortable surface to sleep on. He brought a bottle of ketchup to his mouth and tried to empty it - there was nothing left. He sighed; he really didn’t want to move. Hours and hours of _bone-tiring_ work just for another transformer to short out. It had been almost a month now, and he’d gotten absolutely nowhere. Stars, he was too tired to even laugh at his own awful puns.

He dragged himself to his feet and teleported into the house. He nearly fell over backwards as Papyrus shouted in surprise.

“ _WHERE_ HAVE YOU _BEEN?!”_ Papyrus nearly screamed. “I’VE BEEN CALLING YOU FOR _TWO HOURS_! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD OR _WORSE_ , YOU CAN’T JUST DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT AND NOT TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!”

Sans pulled his phone out of his pocket - the battery had died. He must have forgotten to charge it. “i’m really sorry, pap. i just lost track of time. it won’t happen again, i promise.” Oh stars, Papyrus was _crying_. Sans felt his soul seize up. He had to be better than this.

“WHAT WERE YOU EVEN DOING, ANYWAY?” Papyrus huffed, calming down a little. “YOU’VE BEEN ACTING STRANGE EVER SINCE YOU LOST YOUR JOB AT… UM… THAT ONE PLACE.”

“i was just napping,” Sans said.

“UGH! YOU’RE _ALWAYS_ NAPPING,” Papyrus scoffed. Then his face softened. “BROTHER… WHAT IS GOING ON? YOU HAVE NOT BEEN YOURSELF LATELY. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG. I WANT TO HELP YOU.”

Sans groaned internally. There was just no way for Papyrus to understand any of this. “i’m fine, papyrus. really.”

It was easy to tell that Papyrus didn’t believe him for a second, but he didn’t press the issue. “OH, SOMEONE CAME BY THE HOUSE WHILE YOU WERE GONE. HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT OVERDUE PAYMENTS? I TOLD HIM YOU WEREN’T HOME.”

Ugh. Bills. That was the last thing Sans wanted to think about. He was going to have to get some kind of job now that the Royal Science division had gone kaput.

* * *

 

“SANS! YOU’RE SLEEPING AT YOUR POST AGAIN?!” Sans startled awake as Papyrus marched up to his station. “I SWEAR, YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!”

“sorry, bro,” Sans chuckled. “i was just _bone_ - _t_ _ired_.”

“YOU MUST HAVE USED THAT ONE A THOUSAND TIMES BY NOW,” Papyrus groaned. He took a good look at his brother; he wasn’t pleased by what he saw.

There were dark circles underneath Sans’ eyesockets, and he looked like he could barely keep his head from falling back onto the desk. Papyrus tried not to show it, but he was very, very worried. Sure, his brother’s diet consisted almost entirely of ketchup and all that sugar surely wasn’t helping with his energy levels, but Papyrus was almost positive that something else was going on. And Sans, like always, deflected his every attempt to find out what was wrong.

“SO, UM… HOW IS THAT SPECIAL PROJECT YOU’RE WORKING ON COMING?”

“huh?” Sans looked at him. “oh, that,” he chuckled. “i uh… kinda gave up on that thing. it wasn’t working out.”

“SANS!” Papyrus sighed, exasperated. “YOU GIVE UP FAR TOO EASILY. I AM SURE THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF FINISHING… WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE DOING. YOU JUST NEED TO APPLY YOURSELF!”

“you just don’t understand this one, pap. it’s impossible. this isn’t like one of your puzzles, bro - there’s just no solution to it.”

“I BELIEVE YOU ARE EXAGGERATING,” Papyrus said.

“...i wish i was, pap.”

“WELL, IF YOU ARE STUMPED, THEN YOU SHOULD LET ME HELP! I AM SURE THAT I CAN AID YOU WITH MY INCREDIBLE PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS!”

Sans chuckled. “as incredible as you are, bro, quantum physics isn’t really your forte.”

“WELL… PERHAPS NOT,” Papyrus conceded, “BUT I’M NOT SO SURE THAT THIS PROJECT OF YOURS IS REALLY THE PROBLEM. YOU HAVE BEEN VERY… CLOSED OFF LATELY. SANS,” Papyrus paused, hoping that Sans would actually listen to him for once, “I’M VERY WORRIED ABOUT YOU. YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING VERY STRANGE RECENTLY, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. PLEASE, BROTHER - YOU KNOW YOU CAN TELL ME ANYTHING, DON’T YOU?”

If anything, the question made Sans look even worse. “sure i do, pap, sure i do. i’ve just been in a bit of a funk. it’ll pass sooner or later, trust me. i can…” Sans paused dramatically as Papyrus realized what he was doing, “feel it in my bones.”

Papyrus made some sort of inhuman growl as he picked Sans up and slung him over his shoulder.

“uh, bro? what are you doing?”

“OUR SHIFT ENDED FOURTEEN SECONDS AGO,” Papyrus explained. “WE ARE GOING HOME, WHERE WE ARE GOING TO PLAY A BOARD GAME - DURING WHICH YOU WILL _NOT_ FALL ASLEEP - THEN WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A _REAL_ DINNER, AND THEN WE ARE GOING TO WATCH METTATON’S SHOW. AFTER THAT, WE ARE GOING TO GET A FULL NIGHT’S REST, EVEN THOUGH AN EIGHT-HOUR NAP SEEMS VERY EXCESSIVE TO ME.”

“it’s called sleeping, bro.”

“YES, YES, YES. AND IF YOU DISAPPEAR AT ALL TONIGHT - TO GRILLBY’S, TO THE BASEMENT THAT YOU ALWAYS KEEP LOCKED FOR SOME REASON, TO _ANYWHERE_ \- I WILL BE VERY CROSS WITH YOU.”

“alright, alright, you win,” Sans laughed. “i’m all yours tonight, bro.”

“GOOD,” Papyrus sighed. He still wasn’t happy, but he put on a smile for his brother’s sake. As frustrating as it was to guess at what was bothering Sans - it was like trying to solve a puzzle you didn’t know the rules to - he would get through eventually. No one could stop the Great Papyrus when he set his mind to something, especially when that something involved his brother.


End file.
